1,204,062 Shares in Fortis $FTS Purchased by Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec

Key Points

• Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired 1,204,062 shares of Fortis, representing an investment of approximately $54.8 million, which amounts to about 0.24% of the company.
• Fortis recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4448 per share, an increase from the previous dividend of $0.43, which reflects a dividend yield of 3.5%.
• The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.55 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, and had a revenue of $2.03 billion, above forecasts of $1.91 billion.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new position in shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,204,062 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $54,838,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned approximately 0.24% of Fortis at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Fortis during the fourth quarter worth $1,751,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Fortis by 135.0% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,542 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 4,332 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 577,311 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $23,999,000 after buying an additional 28,642 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Fortis by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,443,333 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $184,878,000 after buying an additional 1,316,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Fortis by 79.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 347,403 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,442,000 after buying an additional 153,416 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on FTS. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. National Bankshares reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of Fortis in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Fortis from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Zacks Research cut Fortis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Desjardins upgraded Fortis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortis currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.00.

Fortis Trading Up 0.4%

Fortis stock traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $49.78. 444,449 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 597,705. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $48.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.28. Fortis has a twelve month low of $40.32 and a twelve month high of $51.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.07 billion, a PE ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.46.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 14.48%.During the same period last year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. Research analysts predict that Fortis will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.4448 per share. This is a positive change from Fortis's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Fortis's payout ratio is currently 73.25%.

Fortis Company Profile

Fortis Inc operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean countries. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 447,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 103,000 retail customers in Arizona's Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,408 megawatts (MW), including 68 MW of solar capacity and 250 MV of wind capacity.